Descendants: Oneshots
by WhiteSkyAtMorning
Summary: Waiting for Descendants two to come out, I have way too much time on my hands, and way too many ideas floating around my brain. But I can't make whole stories out of them, so, here this is. Mostly unrelated, I'll do part two's if people ask for them. There are going to be some Descendants two characters in here too, but mostly from the first movie. Let us begin.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Lost Kids

Sometimes she regretted it.

Choosing good, it'd seemed so simple at the coronation. Stop her mother, give back the wand, be with Ben. No more evil, no more being rotten, maybe actually finding happiness.

Reflecting on it now, Mal wished she'd thought about it more. It hadn't been an easy choice, that was her entire childhood she was leaving behind, the Isle wasn't luggage she could just abandon, it was, in its own twisted way, home.

The only real home she'd ever had.

The Auradon kids walked around the topic like it was a white-hot iron, they never mentioned where Mal, Carlos, Jay and Evie grew up. Maybe they thought ignoring it would mean it had never happened, but it had, Mal still had the scars and the memories to prove it if she ever tried forgetting.

Not that she could. Even if she wanted to, even if she cast a spell to get rid of her scars, to wipe her memory clean and start over. Magic could erase some parts of who you were, it couldn't erase all of it.

The Isle was who she was, the scars and the broken bones and the bruises and loneliness, those were the ABC's of her. They were the ABC's of Jay, Carlos and Evie.

Jay still stole things sometimes, kleptomania didn't just go away, no matter how many declarations of goodness a person made. He always returned everything he took, but it messed him up inside. Mal had once caught him with six wallets, five phones, and even a diamond ring on the school's roof, he'd been having a panic attack.

She'd never asked him what he'd been doing up there, half of her hadn't wanted to know the answer, the other half knew she climbed up there sometimes too. They'd sat on the ledge together, and she'd spelled all of the objects to go back to their owners' and he'd thanked her. She'd held his hand, had wanted to say she understood, but the words had never made it past her lips.

Since then, she'd watched him more, she wasn't ashamed to admit it. And if anyone ever caught them sneaking up to the roof together every few months, well, that was their business.

Evie was easy to keep an eye on, she shared a room with the girl, and unlike Jay, Evie wasn't an expert at hiding things. Mal had always been able to read her like her mother's spell book.

It'd started when Chad had made an offhanded comment at lunch one day, about how much Evie had eaten. On the Isle, food was scarce, good food practically non-existent. In Auradon, you could eat as much as you wanted, whenever you wanted.

It was one of the things Mal had made Ben swear to change. They might've all been villains on the Isle, but she'd seen too many people starve for her to not do anything about it now that she actually could.

It'd started with that, and it'd ended with Evie trying out for the cheer-leading team as a flyer, only for Audrey to tell her she was too heavy. Mal had wanted to turn Audrey's hair grey the minute Evie had repeated the conversation to her, but in Audrey's defense, she'd meant too heavy to be a flyer, not to be on the squad.

Also, turning people's hair grey was frowned upon in Auradon, Mal would never totally understand these people.

From then on Evie had been on an insane diet, that went straight passed obsessively healthy and head-first into completely unhealthy.

Mal had let it slide for a few days, making sure Evie ate at least the minimum at meals, because this was her best friend and Evie was too smart not to know when something was bad for her. It was her life, Mal had had enough of people dictating their lives.

But then Evie had fainted during a Tourney game.

She'd missed two days of school, and Fairy Godmother had signed her up for counseling sessions, because of course, everyone wanted Evie to 'get better' and regain her 'self-confidence.'

Mal knew it wasn't about that at all, Evie had been raised her whole life with self-confidence instilled in her, because the Evil Queen hadn't raised an insecure daughter. To have survived with her mother for so long, Evie had known on some level that she was beautiful, or else her mom wouldn't have bothered with her at all.

This ran deeper, this was about Evie gazing into her magic mirror every night, and pursing her lips when she was about to smile or laugh, this was about her thinking of what her mother would say if she could see her now.

Mal had sat by her side that second night in the infirmary, had held Evie while she cried and said things like "She'd disown me" and "Call me a failure" and "I don't want to get wrinkles, she wouldn't like me then."

Mal hadn't told Evie that their parents had never really liked them at all.

Instead, she'd pressed a kiss to Evie's forehead, and let her eyes flash green. "She doesn't matter." Mal had said. "You matter. You matter to me. You'd matter even if you had wrinkles, even if you didn't have a tiara. You'll always be fairest of them all to me. To Jay, to Carlos."

"You're just saying that," Evie had sniffled, and Mal had never wanted to kill her mother more, to rip the Evil Queen's eyes out so she could never look at Evie again.

"E, I'd love you even I were blind."

She'd broken into sobs, Jay and Carlos had spent the rest of the night with her, until the early hours of the morning when they'd all had to go back to their dorms.

Since then, on bad days, Evie crawled into bed with her. Once, she'd done it every night for two months.

She did it so often, Mal gazed at her sometimes and wondered how many consecutive bad days a person could have before they snapped.

She thought, if there was a limit, she, Jay, Evie and Carlos would have shattered long ago.

Carlos had more than the rest of them.

It was an unspoken thing among the four of them, they never mentioned how Carlos had had it the worst.

It'd startled Mal when Lonnie brought up once how horrible it must've been for Mal to have been the worse off of all the Isle kids. And it wasn't just Lonnie, everyone at Auradon Prep thought she'd had it the hardest.

Her mother might have been the mistress of all evil, but Cruella had been insane, and Carlos had lived with her for sixteen years.

He had more scars than the rest of them.

Sometimes, he counted them. Mal had caught him once, and it'd scared her in a way not even her mother had.

It was etched into her memory, she had nightmares almost every night, sometimes, she had them about him.

Carlos scared her, and admitting any sort of weakness wasn't her strong suit, but she'd admitted it to him.

"Why are you counting them?" She'd asked. "Carlos, how many do you have? That's..." In that moment, she'd promised herself; she'd kill Cruella De Vil.

Screw Auradon and goodness and even Ben if he tried to stop her, she'd go back to the Isle if that was what it took, but she'd kill that bitch. She'd skin her and make her into a coat for Carlos, would do worse, if he wanted.

He'd turned to her then, looking away from the mirror. His voice had chilled her, but his words froze her over. "It's how I remember. I forget sometimes, I need to..." And he'd dug his fingernails into one of the scars on his arm, re-opening it, drawing blood. "I need to remember what she did to me."

"Why? She was a rotten bitch, and I swear Carlos, one day I will-"

"Because she was right."

And that was when she knew, she might've been fucked up, but Carlos had the nightmares and the bruises and the broken bones _times ten._

"Right about what?" She'd asked, and her voice had trembled in a way that not even Ben had heard it.

"I'm dirty," He'd said, and stretched his arms out, putting himself on display like a morbid painting. "This is what I deserve."

"My God, why would you want to remember that?" She'd cried, on her knees at that point, and she'd pulled him onto the floor with her. Cradled him in her lap, and she'd never wanted to let him go.

"It's all I have from her."

The saddest part was how true the statement had been. Ben, Lonnie and Jane, they all had things from their parents. Gifts, passed down, to remember where they came from.

All Carlos had from his mother were scars. All she'd given him was hell and pain.

Mal had put a sleep spell on him, because he'd been near hysterical in her arms, and she'd carried him to his bed, sat next to him, and waited for Jay to get back from Tourney practice.

She'd asked Jay if Carlos had ever done that before, and Jay had told her he did it every week on the same day.

The realization struck her then, this wasn't some weird form of PTSD, this was was a ritual, a routine. Cruella must have forced Carlos, once every week, to show his scars, and convince himself that he deserved them. Until, one day, he'd started believing it.

She'd told Jay she wanted to kill Carlos' mom, Jay told her if Carlos hadn't stopped him, he already would have.

Blood and bruises, broken bones and scars, that was what made them up.

A half-assed, split-second decision to turn good wasn't going to change years of thinking evil was the only way to live.

Mal regretted it sometimes, regretted Auradon just like she regretted the Isle.

There were days when she didn't feel like either, not bad but definitely not good, there were days when the four of them sat in circle on the floor of the boys' dorm and just held hands.

Villains. Heroes. Good and evil. Sometimes, Mal just felt lost.


	2. Chapter 2: Stay the Same

Chapter Two: Stay the Same

It started with Chad crashing his car into a pole.

He'd been fine, but the sports car had been totaled. Jay had looked at it, nothing more than a pile of scrap metal and broken glass, and thought _I want this_.

On the Isle, you took what you wanted. In Auradon, Jay had had to wait six months to officially, _legally_ , be able to get behind the wheel of a car.

Ironically, it'd been Audrey who'd helped him get his license.

Yeah, that'd thrown him for a loop. It turned out the stuck-up princess could actually be decent company when she wasn't being a complete bitch.

She'd helped him practice, helped him study for the theory exam, had even leant him her car.

Her car was pink and sparkly, Jay had almost thrown in the towel the first time she'd told him to get in.

Thinking of the open road, he'd thought _to hell with it_ , let go of whatever little bit of pride and dignity he'd had left, and gotten in.

Now, he stood outside the main gate of Auradon Prep, leaning against the hood of a hotwired car with keys in his pocket that didn't belong to him.

Getting his license was dandy, turned out, a car costed a lot of money. And he was kind of broke as hell.

Jay had always firmly believed that it wasn't stealing if you returned what you took.

He'd nicked the car from the school parking lot, it was one of the extras the staff used if ever the transports broke down.

Carlos had robotics and Evie had sewing circle—a club which she'd started herself—and Mal had art class. Jay didn't have Tourney practice after school today so he waited for them to finish up.

They all came out at the same time, but it was Mal who spotted him first.

Her eyes narrowed, sharp and clever and everything Jay admired about her, gaze bouncing back and forth between him and the car.

"You've finally lost it."

"Funny," Jay dangled the keys in front of her. He pointed to the backseat. "Get in, I don't know how long we have before someone notices it's missing."

"Missing?" Evie's mouth fell open, "You stole it? You can't even drive."

Jay plucked his permit from his jacket pocket, flashing it at them. "Au contraire, disbeliever."

Carlos squinted, "This just says 'I can do whatever I want.'

Jay hurriedly shoved it back into his jacket. He grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, not that one." He frisked his pant pocket. Fuck, where was it, don't tell him he lost it already—

"Ah," He scanned the card to make sure it was the correct one this time, before passing it to Carlos.

The white-haired boy took it and examined it thoroughly, Jay would have been annoyed at the doubt, except he had yet to kick his thieving habit, and his lying habit, and his habit of doing whatever he wanted and not giving a fuck about anyone else.

Everyone except Mal, Carlos and Evie. It mattered to him what they thought. He'd tried to pinpoint the moment when that had happened, the shift in their relationship from strangers to partners in crime to whatever they were now.

 _He knew what they were, he just couldn't bring himself to put a name to it. Besides, labelling things was Auradon's way of life, and Jay had always been Isle through and through_.

"Hm." Evie's quiet hum brought him back to the present. She was eyeing his license wearily, not like she didn't trust him or didn't believe him, more like she was having trouble accepting it.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

That intelligent gaze slipped to him as Evie handed back his license, fierce and calculating and brilliant. Jay thought she could turn people to stone when she looked at them like that. Effortlessly, but then, everything Evie did seemed effortless.

"Why didn't you tell us you wanted to learn how to drive?" Evie sounded the tiniest bit hurt, and Jay immediately felt like crap. She had the ability to do that to him, too, whenever she called him out on his shit. "Did you think we wouldn't have helped you?"

"It's not like you guys know anything about driving," Jay motioned to Mal. "You totaled Ben's scooter the first time you tried riding it."

"How did that happen again?" Carlos inquired.

"It doesn't matter how it happened," Mal said at the same time Evie said, "The cafeteria was out of strawberries and Mal was going through serious withdrawal."

"You don't even know where the grocery store is," Carlos shook his head dubiously, "Remind me to horde strawberries the next time the cafeteria has them."

Pawing at his leg, Dude let out a loud bark, wagging his tail as if he was agreeing.

The dog never left Carlos' side, and Jay wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that. He liked that Dude made Carlos smile, and with the dog attached to his leg Carlos was almost always smiling, but he hated how jealous he got when the damn dog got to sleep in Carlos' bed and Jay was stuck watching the two of them like some kind of jealous boyfriend.

He was not competing for Carlos' attention with a dog, he told himself sternly. He had more dignity than that.

Oh, who was he kidding, the last of his dignity had gone bye-bye when he'd driven Audrey's prissy car.

He supressed a wince as he remembered that. Mal was going to have a bitch fit when she found out he'd gone to Audrey for help and hadn't even told them. If he was the jealous boyfriend, Mal was the crazy psychotic ex that waited outside your window while you were sleeping.

"What's that face?" Mal demanded. Crap, she'd seen.

"What face?" Jace played dumb.

"The face you just made."

"That would be my face." He grinned, trying to hide his fraying nerves, this was not how he'd wanted this to go. They were supposed to shower him in praise and compliments for getting his license, hug it out—they hugged each other a lot more now, but that was nobody's business but theirs—and then they were supposed to go for a celebratory drive.

When was anything ever easy with his friends? He should have planned better.

"It's the same one I've always had, you know."

"Stop being a smartass and answer my damn question." Mal punched him in the arm, it hadn't hurt, which meant she'd been holding back. She wasn't full-frontal pissed yet.

"I was just practicing the face I'd make when you killed me."

"Why would I kill you?" Mal crossed her arms, eyes just as calculating as Evie's, if not a little colder. "We both know I will one day, but I want to know why you think it's going to happen so soon."

"Audrey helped me with my license." Jay got the words out in a rush, hoping that would lessen the ass-kicking a bit. A guy had to try, right? "I asked her to. She had a car and, uh, Ben was busy…" He hadn't even thought to ask Ben, which he felt dumb for now because obviously he would have been a better—and much less hated—choice.

"Liar," Carlos interjected, something Jay was grateful for, because it gave him a reason to look elsewhere.

Mal's expression was murderous, if Jay hadn't known her as long as he had, he would have run for the hills screaming and bawling like a baby. He still had the urge to run, that had never grown out of him. He was confident in his and Mal's relationship, he wasn't suicidal. She wouldn't kill him, but she'd had no problem cutting one of his balls off, so long as he had one left.

"You didn't go to Ben. Have you seen the way he looks at the four of us? He'd cancel a meeting with the King of Agrabah if it meant getting to sit in a car and explaining the gear shifts to you for three hours."

Jay frowned, "Learning the gear shifts only took me two hours. You doubt my skills."

"No, but I doubt your intelligence, going to Audrey for help."

Jay took a step toward Carlos, "You know what—"

"I think Ben already did cancel a meeting with the King of Agrabah," Evie interrupted before a fight could break out. "The week we all had strep throat. Except you Jay, you got it the week after."

Jay shivered at the memory, he'd been running on two hours of sleep—which was less than his standard four hours—playing nursemaid and getting told off by Evie for getting her the wrong kind of soup, told off by Mal for treating her like an invalid and Carlos had accused him of giving him too many pills because he secretly wanted to off him so he wouldn't have to take care of him anymore.

Carlos had been delusional, Mal had been an invalid and in total denial about it, and Jay had made a mental note to never bring Evie anything other than chicken noodle when she was sick. He'd learned his lesson. The threats to his male anatomy had sufficiently scarred him.

Ben had stopped off at their room the third day because he'd had a date with Mal, upon seeing Jay sprawled on the floor shouting how _no, Carlos, those pills aren't poison, but I'm starting to consider taking a page out of Evie's mom's book_ —Carlos had refused any fruit Jay had offered him after that—Ben had cleared his schedule and taken over the role of nurse for the rest of the day.

The week after, while Jay was the one sick out of his mind, Mal had been lying on the bed next to him while Carlos did both their homework and Evie fed him soup—not chicken noodle, no—and had casually mentioned how Ben was dragging her on a weekend trip to Agrabah, because the King was outraged at having been blown off and Ben had to grovel and make amends. She hadn't been pleased that she'd had to go and grovel with him.

Defending them against the stuck up assholes of Auradon was one thing, but blowing off a King to play nurse? That was something else entirely. It was that day that Jay realized Ben cared about the four of them way more than he should, definitely more than anyone else. And that was sort of unhealthy.

But he was from the Isle, where everything was unhealthy, and he'd hotwired a car, so clearly he couldn't judge.

"I remember that," Carlos shuddered, "That was a terrible week. I was convinced you were out to kill me."

"Don't know why you're drugged up mind came up with that," Jay grumbled.

"Maybe because I was drugged up?" Carlos suggested, "Thank the Gods' Ben swooped in and saved me from accidentally overdosing on all those pills you were pumping me with."

"I was not—" Jay groaned and massaged his temples, "I'm never playing nurse for any of you ever again, you ungrateful dicks."

"Can I get that in writing—?"

"YOU WENT TO AUDREY?"

Jay flinched. There was the freak out. Mal had taken her sweet time getting to it, probably letting her rage build up. Yup, Jay was done for.

He'd lived a good life.

"In my defense," Jay toyed with the sleeve of his leather jacket. "I was hoping I wouldn't ever have to tell you."

"That wasn't a smart thing to say," Carlos whispered to him.

"M." Thank the Gods' for Evie and her beautiful brain. She wrapped an arm around Mal's shoulders and leaned in close to her ear, muttering something inaudible. Jay didn't really care what she said, as long as it kept his junk exactly where it was. They all knew Evie was the go-to when Mal needed calming down.

It didn't seem to be working this time.

"No, E." Mal shrugged Evie off gently, getting right in Jay's face. "He lied to us." He was taller than she was, and much bigger, but it still felt like she was towering over him instead of the other way around. "You kept something from us." She was talking directly to him now, which meant she was working up to a punishment.

Jay intended to take it like a man. Well, he would try. If he didn't cry he counted it as a win.

"You know how I feel when people go behind my back. What do I do? Huh, Jay? Tell me."

"You, ah…" It'd been so long since he'd seen her enact revenge on someone, the last person he remembered her striking back at was Uma. What had Mal done to her again?

"You're going to start calling me Shrimpy?" Jay guessed. What a horrible fate that would be.

Mal frowned and Carlos snickered. His expression went carefully blank when she turned to glare at him. Evie was much more subtle, covering up her laugh with her hand.

"No." He felt the ghost of a touch and realized too late that Mal had snatched the keys out of his hand. "Since you were so eager to get your license," She smirked wickedly. "You're going to drive me wherever I want to go, whenever. If I want to go to town to get strawberries, if it's four in the morning and I can't sleep—"

Jay groaned at that, and her smirk widened.

"Or even if I just feel like going around the neighborhood playing ding-dong-ditch, you're my new getaway driver. Or chauffeur. Whichever you'd prefer."

"You make it so hard," Jay said as she handed the keys back to him.

"And you make it so worth it." She patted his head and brushed by him, opening the car door and sliding into the passenger's seat. She blinked innocently, "You coming?"

Evie kissed his cheek sympathetically and Carlos gave his arm a firm squeeze. The white-haired boy met his eyes, "I'll come with you two, just in case she decides to knock you out while you're driving and bury your body somewhere."

"Thanks," Jay said, "That means a lot. But knowing Mal, she'd end up knocking both of us out."

"Yes," Carlos nodded sagely, "Yes she would."

Mal honked the horn, "I'm getting impatient, boys."

Jay sighed and accepted his fate, slipping into the car and fastening his seatbelt. He turned the key in the ignition and eased out of courtyard and through the gate.

He started slowly, letting them get a feel of the pace of the car and the road, before pressing his foot harder on the gas and kicking the speed up.

On the Isle he'd been a restless force, constantly in motion, never stopping. It hadn't surprised him when he'd driven that first time and the need to feel the wind hit his face, to be going fast enough that the impact of a crash would kill him, had overwhelmed him. It'd been a roaring in his veins, overpowering, constant.

He'd always felt the most alive when he thought he was going to die.

Auradon could change a lot about him, it couldn't change that.

Cracking open the sun roof—these cars were all well-equipped, GPS, surround sound system, as Carlos had told him it was called, but the sun roof was the thing he knew they'd enjoy the most—he glanced back at Carlos and Evie, neither of them had their belt on.

All the windows were rolled down, Evie's hair was in her face, and she looked beautiful. The wind hit Carlos' face and his eyes were closed, and he looked free.

"Stand up," Jay said, having to shout to be heard over the wind. "That's what it's there for anyway." It wasn't, it was actually for letting sunlight and air in, and standing up in a car in Auradonian terms was 'frowned upon.'

But no one was around, and some rules were meant to be broken.

Carlos stood up first, daring and fearless and weightless in a way he never had been on the Isle. If it wasn't for Evie clasping his wrist, Jay thought he would have floated away, Carlos looked like he would, like he wanted to.

Evie got up beside him and together they held up their linked hands and shouted at the sky. Distantly, Jay thought he heard thunder. It was drowned out by Carlos and Evie's laughs.

Jay turned his gaze back to the road and felt a warm weight on his knee. He glanced at Mal. Purple hair whipped across her face, making it impossible to see her expression. Jay wanted to think she was smiling at Carlos and Evie too.

"Nice surprise," She said, and Jay knew she got it. Understood now why he hadn't told them this as he told them everything else. She was okay with it, she'd forgiven him.

He'd still drive her wherever she wanted if she asked, it wouldn't be a punishment to him.

Her hand on his leg, the rush in his ears close to deafening, his eyes watering from the sting of the wind, Jay closed them and let his foot drag harder on the pedal. The car sped up until they were at the maximum it could go. Mal said nothing, but Jay didn't have to see her to know her eyes were still open.

He felt a drop of rain hit his face, and the thunder cracked again, louder than before. When the skies split open and it started pouring, and lightening flashed behind his eyes and his clothes got soaked to the bone, he opened his eyes then, and realized that his hands had slipped off the wheel.

In his periphery, he checked the mirrors and noticed a green glow surrounding the car. Placing his hands back on the wheel, the glow faded.

Mal had been keeping the car straight, keeping them from crashing.

He glanced at her, but she wasn't looking at him. She was just as drenched as he was, staring out at the windshield fixatedly, her hand was still on his leg.

"Eyes on the road," She said in a sing-song voice.

In the backseat Carlos and Evie were still shouting, Jay imagined they had to be cold, but from the way they were laughing recklessly and violently and without abandon, he didn't think they felt a thing.

The entire interior of the car was wet, it hit him that he didn't care if he got in trouble for taking it or if anyone noticed.

The only people who mattered were right here.

"Wherever you want me to take you," Jay spoke slowly, letting Mal know his words were serious. "I'll do it. Say the word."

For a few beats she didn't say anything. Jay thought that was so like her, making him wait for her response just like she made him wait for everything. But she was Mal, so he didn't rush her.

"Wherever you're going next," She answered finally. "Give me a roundtrip ticket."

He wondered how he'd been so lucky to have gotten friends such as these. Whether he'd picked them or they'd picked him, or maybe fate just wanted a good laugh, he wouldn't trade them for anything. Not for all the gold in the world.

"Whatever you want." She looked at him this time, she wasn't smiling, but she didn't have to. An expression didn't say everything you wanted it to, anyway. Her eyes did that enough.

The storm picked up speed then died down, then picked up speed again. Mal's hand stayed firmly on his leg.

Breaking the stillness of the car, she tapped a finger against the dashboard, "We should head back."

He glanced at the time, "Crap." It was six. They'd been driving for two hours. He prepared himself for the detention he was sure to get, someone had to have noticed the car was missing by now.

"You want to head back?" He left it up to her, if she wanted to keep going he'd keep going until they ran out of road.

She tucked a lock of wet hair behind her ear, "I have a date with Ben at seven."

And she looked like someone had drowned her. Double crap. It would take some serious Evie magic to have her ready for her date on time. Ben was an understanding dude, so he probably wouldn't be mad if she was a half hour late. Still, with how soaked she was, Jay worried she'd get sick or something. The weather was getting colder as winter approached and unlike Jay, Mal wasn't wearing a jacket.

Figuring it'd be useless to give it to her at this point, Jay blasted the heater and went to roll up the windows.

"Don't."

He pulled his hand back, frowning. "I don't want you to get sick, the heaters should help dry your clothes—"

Mal jutted her chin out defiantly, "Don't care. I'll take a warm shower when we get back. Worst comes to worse I'll use a fix-up spell."

There seemed to be a spell for everything. Jay wondered if there was a 'make your best friend pay more attention to you than his dog' spell. He could use that.

"Besides, if we all get sick," She shrugged. "You're not that bad a nurse, Carlos just likes to push your buttons."

The words touched him more than they should have. He really was turning into a softie. Gods' help him.

Jay flicked off the heater and left the windows the way they were. A bolt of lightning cracked down and struck a nearby tree, a few feet away from the road, narrowly missing the car.

Mal blinked and cast a look at the backseat. The lightning didn't seem to scare Carlos or Evie, if anything, it just made them wilder. Jay saw them in the rear-view mirror and wondered if they'd always been like this, if Auradon hadn't changed them, it'd only canalized them.

He remembered Carlos' evil genius. Remembered Evie's murderous beauty. Remembered Mal's ruthless leadership. He could picture them clearly, picturing himself was a different story.

On the Isle they'd been chaotic, it seemed Auradon couldn't take that out of them, they had to do that themselves.

If it meant he wouldn't get to see this anymore, Carlos with his head thrown back and Evie with that light on her face and Mal whose eyes still glowed as ferociously green as they always did and hopefully always would.

He'd take the chaos. Isle through and through. And while they might not be there, a part of them always would be.

The street they were on was beginning to flood, water bubbling up through the sewers and accumulating. The downpour was heavy enough that it was impossible to make anything out even with the wipers on at full-throttle. Jay flicked his turn signal and started heading back to the school.

He was all for living dangerously, but the car was skidding and the tires' traction was shit, so unless Mal had a flying car spell in that book of hers they'd better get off the streets before they really did die.

If either Carlos or Evie noticed the car had taken a new direction, neither of them cared. He loved that they were having a great time, that was his motto after all, but if he and Mal were drenched Evie and Carlos had to be soaked all the way to their bones.

He'd feel beyond crappy if they ended up with pneumonia or something because of him.

"Should we call them in?" He asked Mal, if she agreed then he'd do it right away. He should have brought a blanket or something so they could dry off.

She pursed her lips, "No. Let them have their fun, they won't get this again for a while."

"Hey, you still have that roundtrip ticket, remember?" Jay would take them out driving every night if it meant Carlos and Evie wouldn't lose the looks on their faces. "I'm your private chauffeur. I'll get a nametag and everything. We can rob a bank if you want, burn the money and toss it out the window, watch people scramble for it."

"Right," Mal snorted. "They'd trample each other."

"Exactly, it'd be fun."

"And here I thought you were starting to care about rules," Mal cocked an eyebrow, "You'd really rob a bank?"

"If you asked me to." Jay said, and Mal was quiet.

He knew it scared her, the thought of someone doing anything for her. She didn't know how to react to it. But he meant every word, and Carlos and Evie would say the same thing. Mal needed to learn she was stuck with them now, no backing out.

"I would never ask you to."

"I know." They pulled up to the gate of the school, "But sometimes you don't have to ask."

Jay searched the parking lot for the spot he'd swiped the car from, the space was empty and no one seemed to be around, so he parked it and undid his belt, hoping they could all make a quick getaway to their dorms and he could deal with the consequences tomorrow. After Carlos and Evie were in dry clothes and Mal had had a warm shower. By himself.

"I never asked you to take care of me when I was sick, either."

 _Your weakness was your own_ , was the motto on the Isle. _Don't let others see it. Die before you do._

He knew this must've been weighing on Mal for a while, so he took pity on her. He left the keys where he'd found them in the cup holder. He shot her a smile, "I know I whine about it a lot, but I wouldn't trade you three for a thing. If that means I've gotta be Evie's manservant or pretend it doesn't bother me when Carlos throws up on my shoes, I'll do it. That's what I'm here for."

Mal swallowed, she was trying so hard to act like this wasn't affecting her. "Good to know. Thanks. I just realized I never thanked you for it."

"You don't have to do that either," Jay pushed open the door. "You ever need me to make a run to get you some strawberries, just tell me. Alright?"

She nodded and got out. Evie and Carlos were staring up at the grey, clouded sky, smiling brilliantly. Evie slipped out first and then Carlos right after her.

"I think," Evie looked like she'd gone swimming with her clothes on. Anyone else would have been freezing, she wasn't even shivering. She brought her arms around Jay and hugged him. He squeezed her back, trying to warm her up a little. "That was the best driving I've ever seen."

"I think," Carlos clapped him on the back. Once Evie moved away, he went in for a hug of his own. "That was the most fun I've had in a while."

The fun came to an abrupt halt. Jay cursed as Fairy Godmother came rushing towards them, having appeared out of nowhere; a stern expression on her face.

"You four!" She cried, wagging a finger. "Stop right there!"

Like there was anywhere they could go. All Jay wanted to do was get Evie and Carlos warm and dry and make sure Mal got to her date on time. Maybe grab something to eat and do some homework.

She stopped in front of them. Despite the hard rain falling, she was perfectly dry. It had to have been a spell, which Jay didn't find fair at all, since they were all wet as hell.

"I don't want any arguments, I want the truth and I want it now." She crossed her arms, gaze moving between Mal and Jay. "Which one of you took the car? Whoever did it, please step forward. Be honest now, and I promise you will only get a week's detention."

Jay went to step forward when Mal's arm stopped him, subtly, she was gripping his wrist. Her gaze stayed on Fairy Godmother, "We all did it. It was a group effort." Evie and Carlos didn't deny this, Jay was half happy they weren't letting him take the fall alone, and half pissed that they were getting in trouble with him. They shouldn't all have to be stuck in detention.

A new voice joined the conversation, "There you four are! I checked your rooms, what's going on here?"

Ben.

"Another teacher reported a car missing earlier." Fairy Godmother explained as he came to stand next to them, giving Mal a quick peck on the cheek. "The cameras didn't catch it so I waited to see if the person who took it would return it, and they did." She sent them all disapproving glances. Jay tried not to crack up, it wasn't like they were scary at all.

"Well I'm sure this is all a huge misunderstanding," Ben said, and Jay thought _'huh?'_ "You see, I asked them to run an errand for me, I gave them my permission and the keys." He offered her a kind smile, Jay couldn't believe that smile also worked for deceiving purposes. Seemed Ben had a dark side under those doe-eyes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, you're Majesty. I had no idea." Fairy Godmother looked sheepish. "I'm sorry to have accused all of you. If you would please forgive me for jumping to conclusions."

"Sure," Mal said. "As long as you forgive us next time when we actually do commit some random act you'll deem as 'bad behaviour.'"

Jay chuckled, Carlos barely holding back a snort. Evie, as always, was sneakier, pretending that she was having a coughing fit. Even Ben's lip twitched.

Fairy Godmother shot Mal an unamused look, "I don't think I have to remind you young lady that you are quite familiar with my detentions, so I suggest you try to keep a clean record from now on. Don't go looking for trouble."

"What a terrible way to live," Jay muttered under his breath.

Even Evie couldn't be sneaky about her laugh that time. Ben grabbed his arm before he could say anything else that would make the woman want to give him detention. Though he was clearly fighting a smile too.

"That's it, I think we'll go now."

When they reached their dorms, Mal went in for a hot shower like she'd said she would, and Carlos had gone back to their room to check on Dude and bring back warm clothes, they'd left the dog at the school when they'd gone on their drive. Jay felt victorious for a few seconds before realizing he was happy over besting a dog.

Wow, he'd become pathetic.

"Hey," Jay said to Ben, slipping on a warm sweater. It was heavenly, "Thanks for covering for us back there."

"No problem." Evie was changing in the corner, so Ben's eyes were remaining pointedly on the carpet. If they'd gone anywhere else Jay would have had some issues with that. As it was, Ben was waiting for Mal to get out of the bathroom so they could salvage whatever was left of their date. Jay still felt bad for messing it up, but Ben didn't look upset, and Mal was fine, so he didn't mention it.

"I just have one request."

"Let me guess, don't do it again?"

"No," Ben grinned, Jay was almost shocked seeing that on the King's face. "Take me with you next time."

Now he was really shocked, they were definitely bad influences.

Which, oh well.

"Sure," Jay shrugged, as long as Mal, Evie and Carlos were okay with it, which they probably would be. "No problem."

It became a sort of tradition, driving out when the forecast said there'd be a nasty storm. Whenever Ben was free he came with them, and he never said a word.

Two weeks after the first time they went out, Mal got sick. Evie and Carlos were fine, but Mal got a cold. Every day for four days, after school Jay would go out and buy a basket of strawberries, leaving them on her bed.

She never said thank you. That was how Jay knew it meant something to her.


	3. Chapter 3: Cracked Mirrors

Chapter Three: Cracked Mirrors

Evie's only ever loved two things; princes and her mother.

Since deciding to stay in Auradon, finding a prince hadn't worked out so well. It'd taken a backseat to keeping her grades up, starting her clothing business and spending time with Doug.

Doug was better than a prince, he really was. Evie knew this.

But sometimes she couldn't stop herself from winking at a cute boy in the hallways, asking Audrey or someone else what his royal status was. It was automatic, an ingrained response.

Loving her mother hadn't worked out so well either.

On most days Evie was able to bury her crippling self-esteem issues somewhere deep, the same way Carlos shoved away memories of his mother's abuse and Jay dug his nails into his palms whenever a shiny object caught his eye.

She liked to think she was thriving in Auradon. In reality, she might just be muddling through. Some days she couldn't tell.

Some days she'll purse her lips to stop herself from laughing. Wrinkles.

Some days she'll get up at five in the morning to do her makeup. Pimples.

Some days she'll wear corsets under tight sweaters to make her waist thinner. Some days she'll skip meals, despite Mal's watchful eye. Jay had his own demons and Carlos still got flashbacks, she couldn't blame them for not noticing. And Mal couldn't watch her forever.

There would be days when she wouldn't smile. She didn't know why other than the fact that she didn't like the way it stretched her face. It made her look unnatural. Not beautiful.

Never beautiful.

Doug made her feel it, beautiful and intelligent and wonderful. When he's with her, it's like her mother can't touch her.

 _Except she can_ , Evie has to remind herself. Her mother would always be able to reach her no matter how far Evie ran.

If Evie kept her magic mirror with her at all times, checking it routinely, over and over like a compulsion, well, she was never good at being honest with herself. Or to anyone who wasn't Mal, Jay or Carlos. It seemed these days she was lying to them too.

" _You should donate that to the Museum of Cultural history." Doug told her one day while they were studying the periodic table._

" _What?" She'd asked, playing dumb._

" _You're mirror, it was technically your mother's." He reached for her hand, gave it a squeeze. "Fairy Godmother would feel better if it was locked away."_

 _Locked away, not with her anymore. Not with her to hold or look at her reflection. Not with her to remind her of the one thing she can never forget._

 _She pulled her hand away, lips pulling into fake smile. "Maybe one day. Hey, what'd you get for problem ten?" She twirled a lock of her hair and quickly changed the subject whenever he tried bringing it up again._

She'd avoided Doug for a little bit after that.

No one noticed that she started using the mirror during class again. Not to cheat, she didn't need it, but she'd keep it on her desk within arm's reach.

Adjusting to Auradon was easier for Evie than it was for Mal and Jay. The only person happier to be there than her was Carlos, and with good reason.

If there was one thing she couldn't adjust to, it was the separation.

Jay and Carlos had Tourney after school certain days, they weren't always around. Mal had a boyfriend with King duties and was fighting a battle of her own, she was hardly around. Evie only saw the girl often because they shared a room.

Evie hung out with Lonnie and Audrey and Jane. She got closer to Doug. She threw herself into school work and sewing, anything to forget. It didn't work, she knew she was getting worse instead or better, but stopping was like trying to remove a piece of herself.

She didn't miss the Isle, Evie knew that. She didn't miss it. What she missed were the days when it'd only been her, Mal, Carlos and Jay. She missed a world that'd belonged solely to them.

She loved Doug. Loved Ben. Loved all of the new friends she'd made here. She loved that she could call them friends without being afraid someone would take advantage of the weakness.

But Evie gazed at her friends and thought about how everything important to her fit into a single tiny room and knew that if they decided to run away she would follow them in a heartbeat.

She held Carlos' hand and led him through a maze made of roses, they walked the path under the lamplight and stars and Evie swore she'd never let the shadows touch him. He asked her if she'd watch Dude for him while he was at practice and she said yes like she always did despite having a full load of homework.

" _Thanks. You're the best, Eves."_

" _I know."_

" _I didn't see you at lunch. Were you in your room? I swung by and you weren't there."_

" _Sorry. Sewing circle."_

" _That's during lunch? I thought it was after school?"_

" _Sometimes. We were organizing a fundraiser. Cupcakes and a car wash, tell Jay he can't just pass by to ogle the girls. "_

" _Like he'd listen to me. Hey, Evie?"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _You ate, right?"_

" _Of course, Carlos."_

" _You'd tell me if you hadn't, right?"_

" _Of course, Carlos. You're one of my favorite people in the whole world, I'd tell you anything."_

Jay loved Tourney too much. He'd show up at her and Mal's room every night after practice with a collection of fresh bruises. On bad days, Jay hit the gym and worked himself so hard he came back with bloodied knuckles. Evie let him in and steered him over to her bed wordlessly. Every dorm came equipped with a first-aid kit.

" _This needs to stop. You should really go to the nurse for these."_

" _Nah, she'd probably want me to make an appointment with the guidance counselor or some shit."_

" _Maybe you need to."_

" _I'm not crazy, Evie."_

" _I didn't say you were. But Carlos doesn't come back from Tourney practice with bruises."_

" _Carlos has enough bruises."_

" _Jay."_

" _Evie."_

" _I need you to be okay."_

" _I'm fine."_

" _You always say that. I always know you're bullshitting. You have to stop doing this to yourself. Jay."_

" _What?"_

" _I would do anything for you."_

" _I know."_

Mal had a sketchbook full of drawings she'd never showed Evie, never showed any of them. Evie never asked and Mal never gave it away, but sometimes Evie caught Mal glancing at her while she drew. Sometimes Mal grabbed Carlos' hand when she heard screaming or a dog barking, sometimes she leaned into Jay and looped her arm through his when they'd pass by stores or boutiques near campus.

Mal sat next to Evie near the window in their room and stared at her like the answers to everything were hidden in Evie's eyes.

" _Do you like Ben?"_

" _You know I do, he's very nice."_

" _E, you know what I mean."_

" _You want my seal of approval? You know you have it."_

" _He makes me happy."_

" _Good. That's all I want for you. For all of us."_

" _I want you to be happy too."_

" _Doug makes me happy. You and Carlos and Jay make me happy."_

" _Does Auradon make you happy?"_

" _It's better than the Isle. Are you happy here, M?"_

" _This isn't about me. I'm asking you."_

" _And I said yes."_

" _Then why do I get the feeling you're lying?"_

" _To you? Never."_

" _Why do you hold onto your mirror?"_

" _Why do you hold onto your spell book?"_

" _Touché."_

" _You worry too much, M."_

"… _E, you know no matter where we are, it'll always be you and me, right? Whether it's here or anywhere. I can't picture a world without you next to me."_

" _You say that like I'm going to disappear."_

" _You already are, you've been disappearing a little bit every day and I haven't noticed."_

" _I'm right here. In this world and the next, I will always be right here. I could never leave you. But I knew that a long time ago. Since you locked me in Cruella's closet."_

" _I hated you then."_

" _Well I never hated you, and I never could."_

Evie made sure her mascara was perfect and her blush was applied correctly and her eyeliner was flawless. She made sure her lipstick was the right shade of red and that her blue eyeshadow was never smudged.

She wore heels that gave her blisters. She spent hours in front of the mirror fixing her hair.

She was killing herself, Evie knew that. It was slow and drawn out and might take years, but Evie was killing herself trying to be perfect.

Trying to be perfect for a mother who'd never loved her and for the people she wanted to love her.

She knew Mal, Carlos and Jay loved her. But it wasn't enough, she never was and she never would be.

Her mother was her first love, a prince her second. Then Mal, Carlos and Jay.

It never occurred to Evie that her first love should have been herself.


End file.
